Monday, September 18, 2017

Kidstock 2017: Enter the Garden (part 1)

For seven years, the Town of North Hempstead has had mostly sunny skies for its annual Kidstock children's musical festival. This year, they added daylillies. After six events in North Hempstead Beach Park, Kidstock was shifted to Clark Botanical Garden for its 2017 edition. The change was mostly successful, as the scaled-down gathering featured three groups, Bach 2 Rock to promote music education, and wrapped up with the National Circus Project.

The beach location beckoned to many families with youngsters and the $10 parking fee was not a deterrent. It also got them to the park early, so that the first few acts played to larger crowds that emptied out. This generally meant that whoever had second (midday) placement became the de facto headliner. Call it the cranky toddler syndrome – most under-fives will empty their gas tank and melt down after 2-3 hours. Schedule a five-hour festival? Something's gotta give.

The principle was in operation here, although in reverse. Maybe because the event was in a different location, maybe because it was free, maybe because any number of variables. But this was a late-arriving crowd, which meant Bach 2 Rock opened to crickets (literally, since this is a botanical garden) and Alex and the Kaleidoscope opened to a mostly-deserted sun field. "You forgot the fans for the performers," Alex Mitnick joked to the technician at one point, while drinking copious water.

We arrived about 20 minutes early (the consequence and good fortune of the event shifting from late August to mid-September) and set up our chairs. The event had several vendors (mostly area dance and art instructors) as well as a food area set up in the parking lot – meaning attendees had to park across the road and take a hike into the garden. There are benches in numerous locations, all great for watching nature but only one near the stage area – and it was promptly "seized" by one grandmother and her family. There was a "Dance Zone" in front of the stage, which is fine when it's cloudy but deadly in the midday heat.

The crowd did begin to gather during Alex's set and was mostly in place for the Dirty Sock Funtime Band. A high-energy quartet, Matt kept asking "Where is Mr. Clown?" Sadly, this was a clown-free performance. "Perhaps he's at the Juggalo March in DC," I wanted to joke, but I doubt a six-year-old would have understood.

Whether it was the clown-free performance or the sun blasting down near the stage, but Matt chose to sit and watch quite contently. Ben, on the other hand, was the ideal participant for a concert. He spoke up, knew the songs from the introductions, and sang along. When Mike Messer (Dirty Sock frontman) jumped from the stage to engage the crowd (hiding in the shade), Ben was the lone exception in the sun ready to shout a line into the mic.